Follow-up Studies

The Education Finance Research Consortium is committed to achieving excellence in New York State education policy. The consortium anticipates that its condition reports and symposium papers will generate interest in and lead to further research on selected topics. Studies listed here are follow-ups to previous research that has been conducted in a particular area of study. As with all EFRC reports, the views represented in these reports reflect the views of the author(s) and not necessarily the Education Finance Research Consortium.

In an effort to identify future school leaders, this report explores the attributes and career paths of certified school leaders, particularly those not currently serving in leadership positions. The report also examines data to determine if there is a "shortage" of qualified leadership candidates, as suggested by many anecdotal reports. The authors make several recommendations to state and local policy makers based on their findings, including identifying and encouraging prospective leaders early in their careers, expanding efforts to attract women to leadership positions, and providing training and support for educators transitioning to leadership positions.

The objective of this February 2002 study is to develop estimates of the costs of financing the achievement of higher standards in New York. Dr. Duncombe first outlines the concept of an educational adequacy standard, and uses portions of Judge DeGrasse's January 10, 2001 decision in Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. New Yorkto develop a minimum adequacy threshold. Key tools that Duncombe uses in the study to estimate the cost of adequacy are education cost functions and cost of education indices. The study includes cost projections from various areas of the state needed to bring educational performance up to a minimum adequacy level, student performance measures indicating how well various districts within the state are meeting the higher standards, and a proposed operating aid formula designed specifically to finance the proposed adequacy threshold.